Luggage Coupling Assembly

ABSTRACT

A luggage coupling assembly for attaching a plurality of articles of luggage together to facilitate the plurality of articles of luggage to be transported on rollers of a single article of luggage includes a plurality of engagements that is each coupled to an outer wall of a respective one of a plurality of articles of luggage. Each of the engagements releasably engages one another to couple the articles of luggage together. In this way the plurality of articles of luggage can be transported on rollers of a single one of the articles of luggage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR ASA TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to coupling devices and more particularlypertains to a new coupling device for attaching a plurality of articlesof luggage together for transporting the plurality of articles ofluggage on rollers of a single one of the articles of luggage.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to coupling devices including a coupling assemblyfor stacking articles of luggage on top of each other. The prior artalso discloses a coupling device for suspending one article of luggagefrom the top side of another article of luggage for simultaneoustransportation. The prior art further discloses a strap for hangingobjects from an article of luggage. Additionally, the prior artdiscloses a strap for attaching a pair of articles of luggage together.In no instance does the prior art disclose a rigid coupling that ismatable to another rigid coupling for attaching articles of luggagetogether.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above bygenerally comprising a plurality of engagements that is each coupled toan outer wall of a respective one of a plurality of articles of luggage.Each of the engagements releasably engages one another to couple thearticles of luggage together. In this way the plurality of articles ofluggage can be transported on rollers of a single one of the articles ofluggage.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the disclosure in order that the detailed descriptionthereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that thepresent contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There areadditional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafterand which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features ofnovelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out withparticularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of thisdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than thoseset forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to thefollowing detailed description thereof. Such description makes referenceto the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a luggage coupling assembly according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a front side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an exploded side detailed view of an embodiment of thedisclosure showing a downward engagement and an upward engagement.

FIG. 7 is an exploded side detailed view of an embodiment of thedisclosure showing a downward engagement engaging an upward engagement.

FIG. 8 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosureshowing a downward engagement being coupled to an upward engagement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through8 thereof, a new coupling device embodying the principles and conceptsof an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by thereference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 8, the luggage coupling assembly10 generally comprises a plurality of engagements 12 that is eachcoupled to an outer wall 14 of a respective one of a plurality ofarticles of luggage 16. Each of the engagements 12 releasably engagesone another thereby facilitating the articles of luggage 16 to becoupled together. In this way the plurality of articles of luggage 16can be transported on rollers of a single one of the articles of luggage16. Thus, a single person can transport the plurality of articles ofluggage 16 with one hand while moving through airport security or thelike. The articles of luggage 16 may be wheeled luggage that is approvedfor use on commercial airliners or the like.

The plurality of engagements 12 includes an upward engagement 18 and adownward engagement 20. Each of the upward engagements 12 is positionedon a first lateral side 26 of the respective article of luggage 16 andeach of the downward engagements 20 is positioned on a second lateralside of the receptive article of luggage 16. Each of the upwardengagements 18 is releasably attachable to the downward engagement 20 ona respective article of luggage 16. Each of the plurality of engagements12 comprises a panel 22 that is coupled to an outer surface 24 of theouter wall 14 of the respective article of luggage 16. The panel 22 ispositioned on the first lateral side 26 of the outer wall 14 and thepanel 22 has an exposed surface 28 with respect to the outer surface 24of the outer wall 14 of the respective article of luggage 16.

Each of the engagements 12 includes a leg 30 that is coupled to andextends away from the exposed surface 28 of the panel 22. The leg 30 isoriented to extend along a line that is oriented parallel to a top side32 of the outer wall 14 of the article of luggage 16. The leg 30 of thedownward engagement 20 is positioned closer to the top side 32 of theouter wall 14 than a bottom side 34 of the outer wall 14 of the articleof luggage 16. Conversely, the leg 30 of the upward engagement 18 ispositioned closer to the bottom side 34 of the outer wall 14 than thetop side 32 of the outer wall 14 of the article of luggage 16.

Each of the engagements 12 includes a foot 36 that is coupled to andextends perpendicularly away from the leg 30. The foot 36 is spaced fromthe panel 22 having the foot 36 lying on a plane that is coplanar withthe exposed surface 28 of the panel 22. The foot 36 defines a space 38between the foot 36 and the panel 22. Moreover, the leg 30 of the upwardengagements 18 has a depth that is greater than a depth of the leg 30 ofthe downward engagements 20. In this way the space 38 in the upwardengagements 18 is large enough to accommodate the foot 36 of thedownward engagements 20.

The foot 36 has a distal end 40 with respect to the leg 30, and the foot36 has and a first surface 42 and a second surface 44. The first surface42 is directed toward the exposed surface 28 of the panel 22 and thedistal end 40 slopes downwardly between the second surface 44 and thefirst surface 42. The foot 36 on the upward engagements 18 is directedtoward the top side 32 of the outer wall 14 of the article of luggage16. The foot 36 on the downward engagements 20 is directed toward thebottom side 34 of the outer wall 14 of the article of luggage 16. Thefoot 36 of the downward engagement 20 on one of the articles of luggage16 slides into the space 38 between the foot 36 and the panel 22 of theupward engagement 18 on an adjacent one of the articles of luggage 16.In this way the articles of luggage 16 are attached together.

In use, the downward engagement 20 on a selected article of luggage 16is attached to the upward engagement 18 on a respective article ofluggage 16. In this way the selected article of luggage 16 can betransported on the respective article of luggage 16 when the respectivearticle of luggage 16 is rolled on its rollers. Thus, the user cantransport multiple articles of luggage 16 with one hand while movingthrough airport security, customs or other necessary portals during airtravel.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodimentenabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials,shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, aredeemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and allequivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings anddescribed in the specification are intended to be encompassed by anembodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of thedisclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used inits non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word areincluded, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. Areference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not excludethe possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless thecontext clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

I claim:
 1. A luggage coupling assembly for attaching two or morearticles of luggage together for enhancing transporting the articles ofluggage, said assembly comprising: a plurality of engagements, each ofsaid engagements being coupled to an outer wall of a respective one of aplurality of articles of luggage, each of said engagements releasablyengaging one another to couple the articles of luggage together therebyfacilitating the plurality of articles of luggage to be transported onrollers of a single one of the articles of luggage, said plurality ofengagements including an upward engagement and a downward engagement,each of said upward engagements being positioned on a first lateral sideof the respective article of luggage, each of said downward engagementsbeing positioned on a second lateral side of the receptive article ofluggage, each of said upward engagements being releasably attachable tosaid downward engagement on a respective article of luggage.
 2. Theassembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality ofengagements comprises a panel being coupled to an outer surface of theouter wall of the respective article of luggage, said panel beingpositioned on the first lateral side of the outer wall, said panelhaving an exposed surface with respect to the outer surface of the outerwall of the respective article of luggage.
 3. The assembly according toclaim 2, wherein each of said engagements comprises a leg being coupledto and extending away from said exposed surface of said panel, said legbeing oriented to extend along a line being oriented parallel to a topside of the outer wall of the article of luggage.
 4. The assemblyaccording to claim 3, wherein said leg of said downward engagement ispositioned closer to the top end of the outer wall than a bottom end ofthe outer wall of the article of luggage.
 5. The assembly according toclaim 3, wherein said leg of said upward engagement is positioned closerto the bottom end of the outer wall than the top end of the outer wallof the article of luggage.
 6. The assembly according to claim 3, whereinsaid leg of said upward engagements has a depth being greater than adepth of said leg of said downward engagements.
 7. The assemblyaccording to claim 3, wherein each of said engagements includes a footbeing coupled to and extending perpendicularly away from said leg, saidfoot being spaced from said panel having said foot lying on a planebeing coplanar with said exposed surface of said panel, said footdefining a space between said foot and said panel.
 8. The assemblyaccording to claim 7, wherein said foot has a distal end with respect tosaid leg, said foot having and a first surface and a second surface,said first surface being directed toward said exposed surface of saidpanel, said distal end sloping downwardly between said second surfaceand said first surface.
 9. The assembly according to claim 7, whereinsaid foot on said upward engagements is directed toward the top end ofthe outer wall of the article of luggage.
 10. The assembly according toclaim 7, wherein said foot on said downward engagements is directedtoward the bottom end of the outer wall of the article of luggage. 11.The assembly according to claim 7, wherein said foot of said downwardengagement on one of the articles of luggage slides into said spacebetween said foot and said panel of said upward engagement on anadjacent one of the articles of luggage to attach the articles ofluggage together.
 12. A luggage coupling assembly for attaching two ormore articles of luggage together for enhancing transporting thearticles of luggage, said assembly comprising: a plurality ofengagements, each of said engagements being coupled to an outer wall ofa respective one of a plurality of articles of luggage, each of saidengagements releasably engaging one another to couple the articles ofluggage together thereby facilitating the plurality of articles ofluggage to be transported on rollers of a single one of the articles ofluggage, said plurality of engagements including an upward engagementand a downward engagement, each of said upward engagements beingpositioned on a first lateral side of the respective article of luggage,each of said downward engagements being positioned on a second lateralside of the receptive article of luggage, each of said upwardengagements being releasably attachable to said downward engagement on arespective article of luggage, each of said plurality of engagementscomprising: a panel being coupled to an outer surface of the outer wallof the respective article of luggage, said panel being positioned on thefirst lateral side of the outer wall, said panel having an exposedsurface with respect to the outer surface of the outer wall of therespective article of luggage; a leg being coupled to and extending awayfrom said exposed surface of said panel, said leg being oriented toextend along a line being oriented parallel to a top side of the outerwall of the article of luggage, said leg of said downward engagementbeing positioned closer to the top end of the outer wall than a bottomend of the outer wall of the article of luggage, said leg of said upwardengagement being positioned closer to the bottom end of the outer wallthan the top end of the outer wall of the article of luggage, said legof said upward engagements having a depth being greater than a depth ofsaid leg of said downward engagements; and a foot being coupled to andextending perpendicularly away from said leg, said foot being spacedfrom said panel having said foot lying on a plane being coplanar withsaid exposed surface of said panel, said foot defining a space betweensaid foot and said panel, said foot having a distal end with respect tosaid leg, said foot having and a first surface and a second surface,said first surface being directed toward said exposed surface of saidpanel, said distal end sloping downwardly between said second surfaceand said first surface, said foot on said upward engagements beingdirected toward the top end of the outer wall of the article of luggage,said foot on said downward engagements being directed toward the bottomend of the outer wall of the article of luggage, said foot of saiddownward engagement on one of the articles of luggage sliding into saidspace between said foot and said panel of said upward engagement on anadjacent one of the articles of luggage to attach the articles ofluggage together.